Thursday, April 19, 2018

Hi, friends! I have a special surprise that I have been keeping a secret, and I am so, so, so excited to finally be able to share it with you! Thanks to this blog, I’ve done some really cool things over the years and, guys, this opportunity is definitely at the top of the list. I designed to a pair of leggings with Four Athletics!!! Woohoo! Additional details coming soon, but I wanted to give you guys a little preview and tell you about the design process.

When Four Athletics reached about working together to design a pair of leggings, I was ALL about it. I mean, how cool is that!?! Designing my own pair of leggings?! Whoa. I just couldn’t pass up the opportunity! Plus, some of my favorite fitness women, including Joy and Claire of Girls Gone WOD podcast, Juli Bauer from paleOMG, and Jen and Kristen from Fit Bottomed Girls (FBG), launched their own leggings, and I knew I wanted to follow suit after seeing their beautiful legging creations! FYI: The FBG’s leggings are available until April 25th, and they are super cute!

When the designer from Four Athletics contacted me to see what I had in mind for my leggings, I knew exactly what I wanted. I wanted my leggings to be functional yet flattering, a pair that could withstand a tough workout, but then be stylish enough to become part of my everyday “athleisure” wardrobe. I also knew I wanted them to be black. Why? Because black simply hides sweat better and anyone who has ever worked out with me knows that I am a gross sweaty person! 🙂 Additionally, black is super flattering, which if you see below (1A) with the help of some strategic contour panels is rather slimming and makes the legs and booty look quite awesome! 🙂

These leggings will be available for purchase for a limited time starting next Tuesday, April 24th, so be sure to mark your calendars!And, of course, I’ll share the details here and on my social channels once the sale is live. I’m so excited!!

Question of the Day

If you could design a pair of leggings, what color/pattern would they most definitely include?

As you know I launched my new product company Truvani this year. It’s been a wild ride and very exciting – not to mention, seriously stressful at times.

To source the best ingredients, it takes time, money and a lot of trial and error. We are in the process of developing new products, but in the meantime, I wanted to share this brand new amazing free eBook we put together about Turmeric (full of brand new recipes!) It’s my gift to you. You can download it right here.

I’ve been getting a ton of questions about turmeric lately. Like, how I cook with it… what makes it healthy… what are different ways to use it… etc.

In this new 35-page eBook, called The Ultimate Guide to Turmeric, I answer your questions and give you 10 New Recipes that make it easy to add it to your everyday diet. I also explain why turmeric is an ingredient that I like to eat daily!

Supercharge your life with these incredibly delicious turmeric recipes…

Jeweled Cauliflower Quinoa Pilaf

Golden Beauty Tonic

Banana Turmeric Bread

Papaya Salad with Miso Turmeric Dressing

Golden Milk Steel Cut Oats

Healing Everyday Hummus

Chocolate Turmeric Caramel Cups

Chicken Shawarma Salad

Golden Goddess Pops

Creamy Carrot Turmeric Soup

I’ll also give you8 simple ways to use turmeric at home and in your food, some of which you’ve probably never considered (…like using it to whiten teeth!) Plus, you’ll learn the12 core benefits of turmericthat help to make me feel amazing and vibrant.This eBook is jam packed with valuable information! I hope that you learn to love turmeric as much as I do.

To give you a little taste of some of the beautiful recipes from this eBook, I’m sharing the Healing Everyday Hummus recipe below. Doesn’t it look amazingly delicious?!…

I’ve been making my own hummus for many years. I don’t buy the premade stuff for lots of reasons… namely, most brands are made with inflammatory soybean oil or canola oil and simply don’t taste anywhere near as good as fresh homemade hummus does.

Hummus is very nutritious if made fresh and can be a great pick me up that replaces processed junk in vending machines at work or pre-packaged “health” bars. It’s got a combo of protein and fiber to keep you from craving junk. I love to snack on hummus with red bell pepper, carrots, or celery sticks almost every day. It’s too easy.

The best part? This turmeric hummus just takes 10 minutes to make. You just throw it all into a food processor or blender and blend! I love healthy recipes that are quick and easy… don’t you?

Food Babe's Healing Everyday Hummus

Author: Food Babe

Serves: 2

Ingredients

1½ cups cooked garbanzo beans

2 tablespoons tahini

1 garlic clove, minced

½ teaspoon ground turmeric

¼ teaspoon ground cumin

¼ teaspoon paprika

¼ teaspoon sea salt

¼ teaspoon ground black pepper

2 tablespoons chopped parsley

Juice of ½ lemon

1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil

Instructions

Combine all ingredients except the oil in a food processor/blender and blend until combined, scraping the sides as needed.

With the food processor running, slowly add the oil until well combined.

Serve with fresh chopped vegetables or desired accompaniments. Enjoy!

Notes

Please choose all organic ingredients if possible.

3.4.3177

After you make this hummus (or any of these new turmeric recipes), I’d LOVE it if you’d share a pic on social media by tagging me @TheFoodBabe with the hashtag #Truvani. I can’t wait to see your creations and all the beautiful pictures.

Xo,

Vani

P.S. If you know anyone who loves hummus, please share this recipe with them!

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Paleo f(x), my favorite holistic health and fitness event in the world, returns to Austin, TX, April 27-29th! Yup, that’s right around the corner! In case you missed it the last 6 years, Paleo f(x) is the ultimate Who’s Who gathering of the ancestral health movement—as well as the best Primal party you’ll ever go to hands down.

I’ll be one of the speakers in several Mastermind Panels, including “State of the Paleo Union” and “The Smart Art of Endurance Training,” and I’ll be giving a talk on “The Evolution and Future of Ancestral Health Coaching.” Our very own Elle Russ, host of the Primal Blueprint Podcast, will also be speaking about her continuing research and experience with The Paleo Thyroid Solution. And my friends, coauthors, and fellow keto aficionados, Brad Kearns and Lindsay Taylor, will be there doing Q&A and other activities, as will our Primal Health Coach and Primal Kitchen teams.

You’ll also be getting deep inside the brains of other world-class speakers including New York Times bestselling authors, physicians, scientists, athletes, health entrepreneurs, fitness professionals, biohackers, and more. Robb Wolf will be joining me, along with Chris Kresser, Dr. Sarah Ballantyne, Dr. Kellyann Petrucci, Ben Greenfield, Sarah Fragoso, John Durant, and dozens upon dozens more. You can register for the event and see a full list of speakers here.

I had such a great time rubbing elbows with thousands of like-minded Primal/Paleo enthusiasts at last year’s Paleo f(x). The Palmer Events Center featured all the biggest companies in the ancestral health sphere along with over 30 expert speakers. Overall, there wasn’t a dull moment, an empty belly, or a lack of enthusiasm among the pop-up community of Primal/Paleo attendees.

Book Signings: Meet all your favorite authors and speakers at book signing meet and greets.

Networking: Connect with entrepreneurs, creatives, and other passionate “builders” in the Paleo f(x) networking lounge. Includes special guided networking sessions for bloggers, fitness professionals, and health practitioners. If mingling isn’t your thing, Paleo f(x) also offers special guided networking sessions. You’ll be matched with 8-12 other attendees who share your similar interests, so there’s no way you’ll leave without making personal and lasting relationships with your paleo/Primal tribe.

Special Events: Celebrate the community and join us for the Saturday Night Charity Festival.

I’ll also be walking the ground floor for the entire event, so it’s a great chance for us to meet. Or catch me at my talk, when I’ll discuss the Primal importance of finding an avocation that excites you. I’ll share a bit about my own long and circuitous path to building my Primal businesses and offer some insight into how to discover hidden opportunities that can change your life.

Paleo f(x) takes place at the Palmer Event Center, a premier space in downtown Austin, adjacent to the city’s best food, music, and culture. Last year our Primal presence filled the streets, pervading every corner of Austin for the weekend.

This event is just around the corner (and tickets traditionally sell out), so be sure to register today!

Check out the website to learn more about why you won’t want to miss this opportunity.

Want To Virtually Attend?

And if you won’t be able to make it to Austin, no worries. The Keynote Stage will be livestreamed, and you can virtually attend by registering for the livestream option. You’ll also have access to a private Facebook group of other Livestream attendees. Want to purchase recordings of the livestream events? You have that option, too.

I’m putting on my dietitian hat today to talk all about fiber! Everybody knows fiber is good for you and part of a healthy diet. But do you know why?

When most people think of fiber, you probably think about raw vegetables, beans, and bran cereal. But that’s just the tip of the iceberg lettuce. So what exactly is fiber?

The two types of fiber

Fiber refers to a group of carbohydrates that humans can not digest due to lacking the enzymes that break them down. While we extract nutrients and break down most of what we eat, fiber is the stuff that comes out the other end. It serves a purpose though, and there are two main types with different roles.

MY OTHER RECIPES

Soluble fiber

Soluble fiber blends with water in the gut. Some soluble fibers dissolve entirely others form a gel like substance. Gel forming fibers can have metabolic benefits like helping maintain healthy blood sugar levels. These fibers also slow down digestion helping you stay full longer.

Soluble fibers include gums, pectins, psyllium, beta-glucans and more and is found in oats, barley, nuts, seeds, beans, lentils, peas, apples and citrus fruits. Psyllium, the main ingredient in Metamucil, is one of these gel forming fibers. (source)

Insoluble fiber

Insoluble fiber does not blend with the water and passes through the digestive system mostly intact. It functions mostly as a “bulking” agent, and may help speed the passage of food and waste through your gut.

Insoluble fibers include lignin and cellulose and is found in foods such as wheat bran, vegetables, and whole grains.

I know vegetables have their wonderful benefits, but I like the sound of a soft, soluble fiber moving through me more than the “roughage” of insoluble! However, most plants, such as oats and beans, contain both soluble and insoluble fiber.

Soluble fibers linked to better appetite control

In addition to the above, soluble fiber in particular is linked to a few specific health benefits. This studyfound that soluble fibers, which are thick and viscous, reduced appetite more than the insoluble fibers (59% v 14%).

Moreover, incorporating more viscous fiber into a meal slows both gastric emptying and the rate at which food moves through the small intestines, thereby slowing both carbohydrate and fat absorption and increasing overall satiety and reducing appetite. (source)

Good whole-food sources of soluble fiber include legumes, asparagus, Brussels sprouts, flax seeds, andoats.Psyllium husk, which is the main ingredient in Metamucil, is also very high in soluble fiber.

Consuming Adequate Fiber

The recommended fiber intake is 38 grams for men and 25 grams for women. Women need less because we have lower caloric needs, but obviously this target number is personalized to individual diet and lifestyle. To figure out your recommended daily intake, you can add 14 grams of fiber for every 1000 calories you consume per day, or take your daily caloriesmultiplied times 0.014. (source)

Most people aren’t getting enough

You might think: “I eat a salad a day, so I am surely getting enough fiber.” Yet according to the 10 year NHANES study, average fiber intake for men and women was only 15-17 grams, much less than recommended.

It would be great if we could all eat such a wide variety of whole foods that we’d reach 25-38 grams of fiber with no trouble. Everyone’s appetite would be tame, and poops would be soft and regular (woo hoo!!). But unfortunately many people fall short, as the NHANES study reported. If you feel your fiber intake could use a little boost or your bowels could use a bit of regularity, even as needed like during pregnancy, adding Metamucil to your daily routine could be a simple answer.

Metamucil is made from all natural psyllium husk, a dietary fiber originating from plantago ovata. Psyllium is a mostly soluble viscous fiber, which forms that viscous gel when mixed with water in your GI tract. This gel traps bile acids (made from cholesterol) and prevents some from being reabsorbed, thereby reducing blood cholesterol levels. The gel also traps some carbohydrates and sugars, allowing them to be more slowly absorbed by the body once it reaches the small intestines supporting healthy blood sugar levels and controlling appetite. All Metamucil powders are made with 100% all natural psyllium fiber with a stone ground texture. My personal favorite is Metamucil Free with real sugar for flavor when consuming with water. My favorite way I incorporated Metamucil Free into my diet was mixed into smoothies, which I make at least 3 times a week, if not more. It was also undetectable in oatmeal because it’s kind of like oatmeal already!

If you tally up a day’s worth of food and aren’t coming close to 25 grams, focus on adding more fiberific foods. Add more whole grains, swap beans for meat, and choose fresh fruit for a snack. Many of the lower grain or lower carb diets are also lower in soluble fiber, so that’s something to take into consideration if you don’t consume foods like wheat or oats. If you’re not meeting your goal, Metamucil can help you close the gap.

Health Benefits of Adding Metamucil To Your Day

Helps you feel less hungry between meals* thanks to soluble fiber forming a gel which aids in the sensation of fullness.

Helps maintain healthy blood sugar levels as part of your diet*. Metamucil forms a viscous gel that traps sugars, which are slowly released and absorbed into the body.

†Diets low in saturated fat and cholesterol that include 7 grams of soluble fiber per day from psyllium husk, as in Metamucil, may reduce the risk of heart disease by lowering cholesterol. One serving of Metamucil Powder has at least 2.4 grams of this soluble fiber. Consult a doctor if you are considering use of this product as part of a cholesterol-lowering program.

*These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration.
This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.

I started my morning with the most deeeelicious breakfast: Bacon, egg, and avocado on a rice cake. Mmm! I could seriously eat this breakfast every day. It was a little tricky to eat, so I was careful as I bit into the rice cake. It did though fall apart at the very end. I wish I had made more breakfast “cookies,” which, FYI, aren’t sweet like a cookie. Oh well, next time!

After breakfast was… well, fun. Quinn wasn’t a fan of the medicine that we needed to apply to his eyes for the conjunctivitis, so there was a lot of fighting/tantrums/nonsense. Mal and I were both at our wit’s end, so we decided to head out for an adventure. We swung by SouthfieldUnion Point to let both of our boys run around – Murphy at the dog park and Quinn at the playground.

Things turned around and we had a blast chasing each other around pretending to be “airplanes.”

Quinn was in charge of the “control center” and told us when to blast off! 🙂

Back at home, Mal and Quinn ate lunch while I jumped on a work call. When it was over, I threw together a quick lunch of leftover Cuban Turkey Picadillo (recipe in meal plan below) with arugula and avocado.

While eating lunch, I shared this oldie, but goodie workout on Instagram – just wanted to share here too since I’ve gotten a lot of great feedback about posting workouts for you guys to try. I’ll keep ’em coming! 🙂

After that, Quinn went down for a nap, and I jumped on my laptop to crank out some work. When he woke up, we both had a snack. I went with baby carrots and cucumber slices dipped into cottage cheese with Ginger Ninja kettle chips and a Spindrift.

Dinner was basically the same as lunch, but I added some crumbled feta to switch things up a bit. Then, I finished off the night with a package of dark chocolate truffle Protein Almonds, which are truly one of the greatest thing I’ve tasted lately!

If you’re following along with your own, nutrition challenge this spring, here’s the meal plan for week 3. Just click the link below to download.